


I'm Left Holding the Torch

by TheElectricSpecter



Series: Swing, Baby, Swing [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Shag Dancing, Swing Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 17:57:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10881999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheElectricSpecter/pseuds/TheElectricSpecter
Summary: Nursey chokes on his own saliva. “Shag?”“Christ, Nurse, it’s a dance,” Dex huffs.A scoff. “Prove it.”“You know what? I’m in a good mood, so okay. But I’m leading.”





	I'm Left Holding the Torch

When it was decided Derek Nurse would share a room with Will Poindexter, he expected a few things.

One: He expected Dex to move out by September. Wrong, as it’s now the end of January.

Two: He expected arguments. Right, but mainly because Nursey finds Dex’s red flannel endearing and extremely fucking soft, whereas Dex doesn’t like people touching his clothes. He really needs to ask what detergent the guy uses.

Three: He expected to walk in on Dex doing something he didn’t want Nursey to see at least once. Right, yes, _technically,_ but he was expecting nudity, not…

Dancing?

Dex has his earbuds in, swinging his hips to a beat Nursey can barely hear. He’s rocking back on forth on one foot, stepping to the front and back with the other, arms up like he’s holding onto an invisible partner. Nursey is sure that as far as Dex is concerned, he’s alone.

Nursey stands still in the doorway for a while and just watches, getting a feel for Dex’s rhythm. He can dance, sure – he dances at kegsters, slow dances sometimes, but he’s never moved to a rhythm in this way.

Dex drops the hands of his invisible partner as his headphones go silent before thumbing the screen of his phone to start a different song. This one is faster, Nursey observes from what little he can hear, and Dex matches his footwork to the tempo.

Dex is focusing on his own moves this time, ignoring any invisible partner he may have, swinging his knees and twisting the soles of his feet on the wooden floor of their shared room. He crosses his feet and uses the momentum to spin his body, and he freezes as his eyes fall on Nursey.

“Christ,” Dex spits, pulling his earbuds out as Nursey steps fully into the room. “You could’ve let me know when you came in, Jesus-” He pulls out his phone and checks the time, shoulders tense. “It’s only three, Nurse, goddamn, you should be in class.”

“Prof let us out early. Chill, Poindexter.” Nursey notices just how pink Dex’s face is. “No need to freak. You’re good.”

If it’s possible for Dex’s face to flush even more, it does. “Fuck off.”

Nursey chuckles, shutting the door behind him and throwing his bag on his bed. “But like, what was it? That dance?”

Dex’s brow furrows, but he relaxes his shoulders. “What? You’ve never seen someone swing?”

Nursey bites back a comment about being with _plenty_ of swingers. “Not like that.”

“Hmmph.” Dex rolls up his headphones and stuffs them in his pocket. “Type of dance, lots of styles, easy to learn, did it a ton in high school. It was a five dollar cover to go to a dance hall on Saturday nights and dance for as long as I wanted.” He shrugs.

Nursey ponders this for a moment. “Chill. You get to dance at Samwell at all?”

Dex’s eyes darken for a split second. “The swing dance club doesn’t like me. Or the hockey team in general, for that matter. I showed up once, when I actually had time, and they thought I was just there to pick up girls. No one would partner with me.” He huffs. “Haven’t been back.”

Nursey hums. “Sucks. Which style was that?” Dex quirks an eyebrow. “The thing before the spin and the steps right before. You said there were lots of styles.”

“Oh. Uh,” Dex runs a thumb over the knuckles on his opposite hand. “That’s a lindy hop. Lindy hop swingout. And a Charleston.”

“Do you know any others?”

“Yeah, uh,” Dex turns red again and rubs the back of his neck, pointedly avoiding eye contact with his roommate. “Besides those, I know East Coast Swing, Rockabilly, and Shag.”

Nursey chokes on his own saliva. “Shag?”

“Christ, Nurse, it’s a _dance,”_ Dex huffs.

A scoff. “Prove it.”

“You know what? I’m in a good mood, so okay. But I’m leading.”

Dex puts his phone on the desk next to him as a song begins playing from the tinny speaker: a piece that starts with gentle percussion and acoustic guitar, leading into a smooth, deep Motown style voice.

_I remember bein’ far from home/talkin’ on the telephone/y_ _ou told me it's over, you made up your mind/I'm part of the life that you're leavin’ behind_

Nursey furrows his brow as Dex holds out his left hand. “Fine Young Cannibals? They don’t seem like something that’d be in your library, man.”

Dex shrugs, keeping his hand out. “Maybe you just don’t know me as well as you thought you did.”

Nursey raises an eyebrow at that, but he takes Dex’s hand and reaches for the other. “No,” Dex moves his other hand to where Nursey can’t reach it. “You only hang on with one.”

“Gotcha.”

“Fuck, it’s been a long time since I’ve taught, okay.” Dex takes a deep breath, staring intensely at his feet. “So the shag I learned is an eight step, and partners’ moves are mirrored. So the guy part – don’t give me that look, Nurse, I’m quoting here – starts with the left foot, and the girl part – dammit, Nurse! – starts with the right, but it’s the same step for both.”

Dex is about an arm’s length away, and he gently steps forward with his left foot. “So when I do that, you step forward with your right.” Nursey does so.

Dex steps forward with his right foot. “Now your left foot.” He steps forward with his left foot. “Now your right foot.”

Nursey grumbles. “Just show me the steps, and I’ll follow. If I’m just doing the same move with the opposite foot, I can figure it out.”

“You _mirror_ me, remember,” Dex huffs. “Don’t do anything with the foot _opposite._ ”

Nursey glares. “Okay, fine, but don’t tell me that you don’t get it after I go through it a million times,” Dex says, and begins moving - counting out loud each time he moves his foot.

“One and two, three and four, five, six.” Nursey follows along, right foot forward, left foot forward, right foot back, left foot back, right foot forward again – oh shit, the left foot doesn’t move there – okay, okay, get back on track, there we go, Derek.

Dex starts talking again. “So, on ‘four’ –  you just kinda move your foot up and down, it doesn’t go forward or back. You use the momentum to bring the other foot back and go into a rock step. On ‘five,’ you put all your weight on the back foot, and lift your front leg. That’s why we only hold on with one hand, so we can lean back easier.”

He keeps counting. “One and two, three and four, fiiiiiiive – lift your _left_ foot, man – six. And one and two-”

Eventually, Dex stops counting out loud, and Nursey takes that as a sign that he’s got the basic steps down. After a bit, it comes naturally. Now that he doesn’t need laser focus keeping him from switching feet and pitching forward into Dex’s arms, he notices that the music has changed to a B.B. King track.

_I never tried to make the news/I'm just a man who plays the blues/I take my lovin' everywhere/I came back, and they still care you know_

During the chorus, Nursey realizes that they’ve adjusted their rhythm to the beat of the song. He sees that while Dex is aware that Nursey is still dancing with him, his roommate’s body has relaxed enough that he actually looks like he’s having _fun_.

“Wanna learn an underarm turn?” B.B. King fades out and Henry Gray begins vocalizing.

_I been to New Orleans, I sure had a wonderful time/I been to New Orleans, I sure had a wonderful time/I was high, high as a Georgia pine_

“Why not?” Dex lets go of Nursey’s hand to stretch out his arm. “If I can manage to not pitch forward while stepping back and forth, I can definitely handle turning.”

Dex pauses. “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.”

“Honestly, neither can I.”

“Whatever.” Dex takes Nursey’s arm again. “There are two underarm turns, one for the leader and one for the follower, but we’ll do the follower one. It’ll be a little weird because we’re the same height. You might have to hunch a little to go under my arm, but I’ll try to lift it higher than normal so that it’s easier for you.”

“It’s the same steps, same rhythm, except you’re starting to move to the side under my arm at the end of the beat count. Use your momentum from the rock step to bring yourself forward and under my arm. We’ll do a couple rounds of basic steps again to get the rhythm down.”

Dex pauses and looks upward, nodding his head along to the song. “Mojo Boogie is faster than the other ones that have been playing. I’ll let you know during the round before I move for the turn, got it?”

“Yes?” What the _fuck_ -

“You’ll figure it out, you always do.” Before Nursey has time to preen at the compliment, Dex is counting out the beats for the dance again.

“One and two, three and four, fiiive six, one and two, three and four, fiiive six, one and two, turningattheendofthisoneand FOUR, fiiive, six forward, _forward,_ Nurse _-”_

It’s clunky and awkward and when Nursey’s head is under Dex’s arm, the former gets a strong whiff of the body spray Dex wears. It’s intoxicating and when they start doing the basic steps again, Nursey feels a little dizzy.

Dex’s cheeks are pink when Nursey looks at his face. “Turns are … a lot easier when you’re dancing with your five foot one sister.”

Nursey lets out a chuckle and Dex reddens further. They aren’t moving their feet, but it takes a moment before Nursey realizes that Dex hasn’t let go of his hand.

Nursey feels his cheeks heat up. “Well, I’m sure it doesn’t help that I’m a fucking klutz, either.”

Dex rolls his eyes. “You’re learning.”

Nursey slowly slides his hand out from under Dex’s and shoves it into his pocket. “I think I’d like to learn more, if that’s okay with you.”

Dex’s eyes widen. “Wait, what? Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, it was fun.” Nursey tries to convey nonchalance with a shrug, but honestly? He probably failed. “Like, if I learn enough, I could go with you to the Swing Dance Club meeting? I could be your partner. We could kick some ass, both figuratively and literally.”

“Okay, figuratively, _maybe_. I don’t think Bitty would approve of us literally kicking someone’s ass at _Swing Dance Club._ It’s mostly girls and their boyfriends anyway.”

Dex rubs the back of his neck, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You’d swing dance with me in public?”

“Chyeah,” Nursey says, looking at the flush on Dex’s cheeks. He’s got an absolutely goofy grin on his face, and for the first time since they stopped dancing, he’s actually looking at Nursey’s face.

“You’d give up a Saturday night to go _swing dancing._ ” It’s said like a statement, but Nursey knows it’s a question.

“Yes.” He can tell Dex doesn’t believe him. “It was _fun,_ Dex, and maybe we could like, make a play out of it?”

Dex barks in laughter as Nursey continues. “Ransom and Holster would want us to, rest their souls-”

“They’re not DEAD, Derek-”

“Can you even do those steps in skates?”

“Probably not, Jesus,” Dex wheezes, walking over to the desk to turn off the music.

_It was that mojo boogie, begin to slide on do-_

Dex closes the music app before Henry Gray can finish the word, and as he turns back around toward Nursey, he still has that stupid grin on his face.

Nursey realizes that he’s in deep.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Flame" by Fine Young Cannibals 
> 
> If you're interested in seeing what shag dancing looks like, this video is the one I used for visual reference! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdadn1iT_58


End file.
